Laboratory Behavior of Sand-Bentonite Mixtures

In the engineering field, sand bentonite mixture is frequently used as a liner or barrier material for projects like hydraulic and waste containment construction whenever there exists a dearth of naturally existing clay at a particular site. The engineering properties of sand-bentonite mixtures are an active area of study. This study aims to develop methods for producing sand bentonite mixture which can be used as a waste-disposal liner. In the study, bentonite was chosen to be the admixture and the beach sand taken from the Famagusta Bay in North Cyprus was the main material. Different sand-bentonite mixes (10% B - 90% S (M1), 15% B - 85% S (M2), and 20% B - 80% S (M3)) were created by increasing the sand-bentonite mixture's bentonite concentration from 10% to 20% by dry weight. The Atterberg’s limit compaction, swelling and compressibility attributes of sand-bentonite mixtures were studied. Furthermore, the hydraulic-conductivity, suction, and volume change characteristics of sand-bentonite mixtures were investigated. The ASTM standard was used for all testing. Test results indicate that M3 (the mixture with the highest bentonite content) had the highest values for percentage swell, coefficient of vertical consolidation (cv), hydraulic conductivity (k) and suction values. Increased unconfined compressive and tensile strength was attained with higher bentonite concentration. A raise in the bentonite content also increases the volume change of the sand-bentonite mixtures. The most significant shift in the volume of the sand-bentonite mixtures was obtained for M3 soil. Findings indicate that all geotechnical features of sand-bentonite mixtures were shown to be affected by an increase in bentonite concentration.